MARVEL MASTERS OF SUSPENSE: STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO OMNIBUS VOL. 1

Well, I thought I already had most of these in various Marvel Monster reprints like Monsters on the Prowl, Fantasy Masterpieces, and many many more. Well, not only does this have work I've never seen before, but all of it, covers included, are in chronological order! The binding is amazing, and the heft of the book isn't a negative. The stories are a little dated, but that even makes them all the more charming. Stan was and is one of my heroes, and Steve's art is just as goofy and wonderful as it ever was. Well worth it. I got mine at about half price. So add in volume 2 and for a little over 100 dollars you would have some great fantastic short stories by two guys that devoted their lives to comics. The don't forget Stan and Kirbys Monsterbus colections!!

I love Mr Ditko's art for the last 60 years since I read my first comic book. The art and the reprinting of these stories is impeccable. The coloring has added a new dimension to Steves moody and mind blowing pages. Some of the stories are good but most are predictable in their 5 to 6 page format. Stan Lee's stories needed Ditko and Kirby's art to take it to a higher level... Some have a Twilight Zone type format which at times works quite well... but I bought it for the art and thats the reason one should buy this wonderful book !

Large book arrived in perfect condition! Excellent merchant. Highly recommend!

Masters of Horror and excitement!! Many fine stories to keep you entertained for hours. I love this book and will get volume 2 3 4 and more if they come out!!! Give it a look and then BUY it, you won't be sorry!!

The book is beautiful and Steve Ditko’s artwork is fantastic, much better than it was during his post-Spiderman period. The only weakness is the writing (primarily credited to Stan Lee) The stories are very short, ranging between 4 to 6 pages each. The plots and dialogue are pretty hokey and stick to a formula (mostly sci-fi that end with a Twilight Zone type twist) which becomes very repetitive after a while.

Excellent Collection of Steve Ditko’s early marvel artwork

Okay, it might be irresponsible of me to post a review having read only four of the stories so far—Ditko’s first for Atlas from the ‘50s and ones I have NEVER seen before—and I’m about to read the fifth one, which is, oh my gosh, a WESTERN and the first one signed by Stan Lee, and…I gotta settle down, lol. Like the two Kirby “Monsterbuses” before it, this is going to collect ALL of Ditko’s fantasy/suspense/sci-fi work—a bunch of which has never been reprinted—before the Marvel Age began with a quartet of quarreling superpowered adventurers and one angst-ridden superpowered teenager, and let me share something with you: These books are what I’ve literally been waiting and praying for my whole comic-reading life. Waaay back in 1970 when I was a young kid on the Big Island into monster and horror movies, I picked up my first comic at what was either the supermarket or the drugstore. It was Where Creatures Roam, and the cover featured a terrified man running down the stairs of a spooky-looking castle, pursued by a dripping, yellow-orange goop-covered giant called the “Glop”—a name I later learned was changed from the “Glob” to avoid confusion with a certain Hulk nemesis I became quite familiar with, because guess what my first superhero series was? Anyway, that single issue ushered me into a whole new universe courtesy of three men: Stan, Jack, and Steve. And to this day, when I think about what comics are or or why I love them in the first place or what makes them so uniquely special, I drift back to my sometimes solitary days as an only child in Hilo, sprawled on the carpet on a typically rainy afternoon and reading my Marvel monster reprint books. If I wanted to get lost in a big, fun adventure with dramatic action and crazy creatures, I’d read a Kirby story. If, however, I just wanted to get lost period, in a strange, dark world filled with shadows and weird, distorted-looking characters and locales that almost seemed to twist and writhe and grow off the page with a life of their own, I’d read Ditko. So seriously, if you’ve never seen the man’s work before and especially if you have, pick up Marvel Masters of Suspense and step into the surreal space of an artist who grabbed ahold of a little boy way across the ocean and never let go…probably ‘cause his fingers were so darn RUBBERY, lol.

As is usually the case with Marvel Omnibus collections, this is a first rate restoration of these anthology tales. The art and coloring are absolutely beautiful. Presented in chronological order, it's pretty easy to see that there is a quantum leap in Ditko's art about 1/3 of the way through which, per the introduction, coincides with Stan Lee adopting the "Marvel method" which gave the artists more freedom to develop and plot the stories. And Ditko used that freedom more than any other artist of his day by experimenting with design and the use of the page to pace a story. The book is best taken in small does, 4 or 5 stories at a time because, while many of the stories are wonderful gems, others are predictable, formulaic and often repetitive, not surprising given the restrictions of the Comics Code and the grind of churning out issue after issue. Yet even here, it's clear that Stan Lee had a better ability to tell a 5 page story than did Carl Wessler, who wrote the first 16 or so of these tales, or the Charlton writers for whom Ditko did similar work before and after his days at Marvel. The only shortcoming is the all too brief introduction which is pretty sparse on information. Was Ditko involved in any of the coloring? If not, who gets the kudos for the stunning approach in some of these tales, so different than what was happening at DC Comics? Nevertheless, this is a fine volume, which I would rate even higher than the Kirby Monsters anthology.

Highly over priced.

Allt var utmärkt.

Top notch Lee and Ditko material, collecting from the start of their pre-hero work together back from the days of Marvel when they were known as Atlas. Nicely remastered into the first of two volumes, on good quality paper. Essential for all die hard fans of Marvel’s history

Grandes histórias da dupla Lee e Ditko. As cores seguem as originais e valorizam os desenhos de Steve Ditko, em grande fase. Edição caprichada.

Les comics originaux repris ici sont devenus introuvables (en tout cas en très bon état) et n'ont jamais été réédités, ce qui en dit déjà long sur le caractère incontournable de cette édition. L'artwork et le travail de restoration et de recolorisation sont fantastiques, ont atteint le degré de maîtrise déjà existant sur Savage Sword of Conan Omnibus. Les histoires sont présentées en ordre chronologique et permettent d'identifier le moment charnière où Stan Lee reprend la narration et applique le schéma propre à Marvel (Marvel way). Là, Ditko prouve son génie du découpage et son savoir-faire sur des histoires de 5 pages.Alors oui, ce volume présente des histoires datées et vont sembler ringardes pour bon nombre de jeunes lecteurs actuels. Néanmoins, même pour ceux-là, et pour ceux qui s'intéressent à la manière dont les héros modernes (ceux qui squattent les écrans de cinéma actuellement) sont nés, c'est un fantastique voyage au sein de l'univers fictionnel 50's.Déjà un omnibus majeur de la collection, un classique intemporel et indémodable à l'édition en tout point remarquable. En attendant impatiemment de lire le volume 2...